


Trapped in Time

by Impala_Cherry_Trickster



Series: Merlin Prompts [64]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Confused Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gen, Good Morgana (Merlin), Magic Revealed, Merlin is a Little Shit, Morgana Knows about Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Protective Merlin, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27132463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impala_Cherry_Trickster/pseuds/Impala_Cherry_Trickster
Summary: Arthur finds himself trapped inside of a time loop, and the way to break it? To find out why he's having a crappy day
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merlin Prompts [64]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706692
Comments: 12
Kudos: 262





	Trapped in Time

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt for tumblr

‘Good morning, Sire!’ If there was one thing Arthur detested about his mornings, it was being woken up early. Like now, with the sunlight streaming in and Merlin’s chatter already waking him. The smell of food filled the room, so Arthur begrudgingly dragged himself towards his table, bare feet padding over the stone until…

‘Merlin, why is there water on the floor.’ It wasn’t phrased as a question, more a warning that the manservant better have a very good explanation for it.

As always, Merlin completely ignored all social cues given to him, and instead grinned at Arthur like a simpleton.

‘Perhaps you spilt your bedtime drink?’ He would have thrown something, had he not been empty handed. Instead, he settled for glaring and telling him to clear it up, making it to the chair and slumping down.

‘Training this morning, followed by a Council meeting, oh and Morgana wanted to show you her new spells.’ That caught his attention, Arthur abandoning the sausage he’d been about to stab and looking over at Merlin. The idiot was rummaging through the wardrobe, bent nearly in half, humming a tune under his breath as he worked.

Looking back to his plate, Arthur halted.

‘Where’s my sausage.’ Merlin’s sniggering didn’t help the situation, and the King pointed at Merlin.

‘I didn’t see…’

‘Don’t even try it, Merlin! I had a sausage on the plate!’ To his annoyance, his very best threatening tone was completely ignored in favour of Merlin moving towards the antechamber.

‘Perhaps if you spent more time eating, and less staring at me…’ This time, Arthur did have something to hand. His goblet, chucked at Merlin’s head and bouncing off the door.

He swore that Merlin’s laughter would haunt him until the day he died.

**

Training went as well as the rest of his morning had. Gwaine showed up without his boots, Elyan accidentally tripped Leon over into the pile of blunt swords, resulting in the First Knight having to go to Gaius. Nothing more than bruises and aches, but still.

Then Lancelot managed to get a hit on him, which Arthur would have been fine with, had Merlin not laughed as it happened. The distraction cost him his parry, Lancelot feinting left and disarming him with ease.

‘Sorry, Sire, I…’

‘No need to apologise, Sir Lancelot.’ He gritted out, glaring at the idiot that was polishing his armour.

‘Perhaps I should spar with Percival?’ Arthur waved him on, walking across towards Merlin with the intention of shoving him right off the barrel he was perched on.

He could have sworn that the axe wasn’t on the floor earlier, which was the entire reason behind him tripping over it and landing in the mud.

As much as the Knights tried not to laugh, Arthur could hear the snickering behind him as he rose up out of the dirt.

‘Perhaps a bath, sire?’ Merlin questioned, his smile the very picture of innocence.

Arthur was going to drown him.

**

‘Can’t you make it… bigger?’ Gwen hit his arm, while the other Round Table Knights frowned. Merlin looked disappointed, which should not have bothered Arthur as much as it did.

Morgana looked hurt, and the King realised she had been expecting some sort of praise for the flame that she’d summoned. It was rather pretty, he supposed, a burning orange and danced over her skin without harming her. He would have said that, had her expression not shifted to one of determination.

The flame burst upwards, Arthur scrambling back while the Knights all had varying reactions of shock.

Luckily, Morgana summoned water to douse the flame, and it went back to being a candle. Well, a soggy candle, but a candle nonetheless. Arthur stared at her shocked expression, wide eyes and trembling hand, and decided that maybe he should have just praised her when he had the chance.

‘Perhaps a little more practice?’ He suggested instead, and Morgana’s glare told him he should probably shut up.

**

‘Merlin, you can’t just throw my socks on the floor.’ Arthur protested, sitting up in bed as he flicked through the book on Magic that his sister had left on his table earlier. It was a strange gift, but he fully intended on reading it, considering that she had made the effort of practicing her… talent.

‘You do it all the time.’ His manservant replied cheekily, while Arthur sighed.

‘I’m the bloody King!’

‘No need to shout, Arthur. I’m sure the Castle already knows.’ Honestly, it was a miracle that he hadn't throttled Merlin. Or drowned him. Or just placed him in the stocks and left him there.

‘I can’t wait for tomorrow.’ The King muttered, more to himself than anyone else, placing the book down by the side of his bed.

‘Don’t wish for things you can’t guarantee!’ Merlin gleefully remarked, throwing a sock towards the corner of his room as he made to leave.

‘That almost sounded like treason.’ Arthur pointed out, only for that stupid grin to return. He looked like a stoat, or perhaps some other small vermin.

‘I’ll try harder next time!’

**

‘Good morning, Sire!’ Arthur winced, glaring at the back of his manservant’s head as the sunlight filtered through. His hand reached for the book, intending on throwing it, only to find it missing from the spot where he’d left it. Strange, but not altogether unheard of. Merlin did occasionally clean, so Arthur ignored it, dragging himself up and walking towards the table.

His bare foot hit something wet, and he glanced down to find a puddle of water.

‘Merlin, why is there water on the floor?’ Almost as soon as he’d said the words, he remembered their conversation yesterday.

‘Perhaps you spilt your bedtime drink?’ All he could do was gawk at his manservant as he walked to the wardrobe, flicking through the clothes with ease.

‘Training this morning, followed by a Council meeting, oh and Morgana wanted to show you her new spells.’

‘But… That’s the same as yesterday.’ Merlin halted, straightening up and turning around in confusion.

‘You didn’t do that yesterday. We were coming back from a Hunt.’ That had been two days ago, Arthur pointed out, before Merlin’s frown grew deeper.

‘Are you sick? Do you have a fever?’ Perhaps it had been a dream, he mused, slowly lowering himself into his seat and staring at the sausage.

Well, he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. This time, when he looked across at Merlin, he made sure to keep hold of the sausage.

‘Just an odd dream, that’s all.’ Merlin smiled patronisingly, so Arthur turned back to the sausage, only to find half of it missing.

He didn’t even have the energy to ask what happened, instead throwing the goblet at the man before he could escape.

**

Clearly, there was something very wrong today. Leon had tripped over Elyan, only to end up landing in the training swords. Two Knights had escorted him to Gaius, while Arthur partnered the rest of them up. A quick lecture on the attitude of Knights, and how they mustn’t forget their boots, turned into Arthur losing a fight to Lancelot.

‘Sorry, Sire…’

‘No need to apologise, Sir Lancelot. I’m simply not myself today.’ He then suggested Lancelot pair up with Percival, watched the two of them spar for a moment before turning to look at Merlin.

Merlin, who was laughing, just as he had been yesterday.

Something was very wrong, he decided, avoiding the muddy patch and marching up to Merlin, who squawked and tried to flee.

**

‘Can’t you make it… bigger?’ He caught Gwen’s hand before it could hit his arm, ignoring the frowns from his friends. Morgana pouted, but her attention returned to the candle, and Arthur watched as it exploded.

He didn’t take his eyes off of her face, looking at the panic that came as fire raced towards the ceiling. Strangely, her eyes didn’t turn golden to douse the flames with water, and Arthur had to consider this while smiling at her.

‘A brilliant attempt.’ The praise clearly wasn’t expected, the group looking at him like he’d said something ridiculous. Maybe he had.

Maybe Morgana could assist with the strange dream he’d had.

**

Arthur watched as yet another sock was thrown into the corner, as his manservant moved around the room with a familiarity that Arthur had never really noticed before.

‘Shouldn’t you be reading?’ Merlin questioned, startling the King out of his daze. He glared, looking back down to the gift from Morgana. It was the exact book from yesterday, from the dream, which was odd, considering he’d never seen it before that occasion.

‘I am.’

‘After all, you need a lot of help learning.’ He threw a pillow, ignoring Merlin’s laughter as he slipped from the room.

He couldn’t be bothered to go and collect the offending cushion, so snatched one of the others and settled down on it.

Tomorrow, everything would work itself out.

**

‘Good morning, Sire!’

The book wasn’t by the side of the bed.

The pillow was underneath his head, propping him up enough to see Merlin throwing open the curtains.

‘I hate today.’ He muttered, rolling onto his back and wondering if he should just skip to the part where he told Morgana about his dream.

‘Training this morning, followed by a Council meeting, oh and Morgana wanted to…’

‘Show me her new spells.’ Arthur finished, dragging himself out of the bed and walking towards the table. He paused just before the water, glancing down at it like it was the sole cause of this chaos.

‘Merlin, make sure to mop the floor properly.’

‘Yes, Sire.’ He teased, head buried in the wardrobe.

This time, Arthur ate the sausage before Merlin could even think about sneakily removing it. How he did it, Arthur was still unsure, but he’d figure it out…

‘Are you okay? You seem… different.’ Merlin stated, breaking the silence.

Arthur chewed the sausage for a moment longer, before sighing.

‘Just tired.’

**

Arthur caught Leon. He pulled the Knight up, watching the First Knight stare in shock at the pile of swords.

‘Nice catch, Sire!’ One of the younger Knight’s called, while Leon thanked him quietly.

‘Lancelot, pair with Sir Leon. Gwaine, with me.’ This time, he didn’t lecture the slovenly Knight. He simply acted like he was wearing shoes, rather than wandering barefoot around the training ground.

‘Something up, Princess?’

‘Not at all.’ Arthur assured him, disarming his rebellious Knight and turning to Merlin.

The manservant looked proud, a big smile on his face.

‘Continue your training.’ He moved towards him, halting when he reached the mud.

Only to find that there was no mud, just thick grass.

Merlin jumped from the barrel, placing down the oil and smiling up at him like Arthur had personally made his day.

‘Off to the Council?’

**

‘Can’t you make it bigger?’ Arthur asked bluntly, feeling very conscious of the fact that he was about to unearth something that he didn’t want to know.

He’d always known.

Morgana glared at him with hatred, Gwen hit his arm, and the Knights frowned. Merlin looked disappointed, and had Arthur not been paying attention, he would have missed the look of sadness.

When the flames lit up the room, Arthur refused to take his gaze away from Merlin. Nobody was paying attention to the manservant, not when Morgana was using her gift to create something so terrifying.

A flash of gold replaced bright blue, and the water doused the flame.

Ah, Arthur thought, that explained what had happened to the sausages.

He waited for the anger, wanted to stand up and scream, to shout until his voice was hoarse and he couldn’t remember everything he’d just seen. Instead, he looked at his sister, and found her shaking.

The King rose up, taking her hand gently and sending what he hoped was his most sincere smile across.

‘It’ll come, with practice.’ He assured, watching her disbelief.

‘Perhaps we should find you a teacher.’ He added, sneakily glancing at Merlin and smiling when he saw the pride on his manservant’s face.

It wasn’t a betrayal, it was loyalty. Pure, unrelenting loyalty, no matter how Arthur acted.

Suddenly, he recognised why the mud had been on the training field. Why he’d fallen, because he’d taken out his anger on Gwaine.

It was Arthur’s actions that dictated Merlin’s emotions, that dictated what spells he performed during the day.

‘I’d like that, brother.’ Morgana stated, smile the brightest he’d ever seen it.

**

Arthur peaked around the corner, watched as Merlin placed the book down on his desk. So, it hadn't come from his sister like his manservant had said, but from him. It made sense, Merlin had been the one encouraging him to help Morgana.

He backed up, before walking towards his Chambers with heavy footsteps, giving his manservant time to pull himself together.

‘Evening, Sire.’ Came the voice from the fire, while Arthur unbuckled his sword and placed it down.

‘A gift?’

‘From Morgana.’ Merlin’s back was to him, so the manservant missed Arthur’s fond smile.

‘I think it’s about time that I fully repeal the ban on Magic. What do you think?’ He’d changed the punishment of death a long time ago, ever since his coronation, but this was the logical next step. Merlin jerked in shock, head snapping around to him, eyes wide.

‘For one person?’ He quietly asked, and Arthur poured himself a generous helping of wine.

‘Of course not. It just helps that I have a sorcerer I can trust.’ Merlin’s pride was visible once again, smothered by that ridiculous grin that stretched all the way to his abnormally large ears.

‘Sorceress.’ Merlin corrected, and Arthur shrugged.

‘Clear up my socks, would you? Anyone would think I don’t actually have a manservant.’

**

‘Up and at em’, Lazy Daisy!’ Arthur grinned into the pillow, before rolling over slowly. Merlin was dressed in blue today, the usual neckerchief tied around his neck as he threw back the curtains.

‘What’s got you smiling?’ Merlin questioned, yanking away the covers that Arthur had been tucked up in. The King couldn’t even find it in him to glare, simply laughed.

‘Today is going to be a good day.’

‘If you say so, Sire.’


End file.
